Williams Announces Football Coaching Staff

Mar 25, 2009

March 25, 2009

NEW HAVEN, Conn. - Tom Williams, recently named the Joel E. Smilow '54 Head Coach of Yale Football, has selected his staff for the 2009 season. Here are the nine members of the Yale Football coaching staff.

Rick FlandersAssociate Head Coach
Defensive BacksRick Flanders, coaching his 13th season at Yale in 2009, was the defensive coordinator the entire time under Jack Siedlecki. He was promoted to Joel E. Smilow '54 Associate Head Coach in March 2007. Flanders spent the first seven years focusing on defensive backs and the last four working with linebackers. Under his watch, the Yale defense was ranked No. 1 in the FCS in scoring defense the last two seasons. He came to Yale from the University of Pennsylvania, where he was secondary coach for five seasons. He is a 1979 University of Maine graduate who helped Penn to Ivy titles in 1993 and 1994. Flanders' defensive backs helped the Penn defense rank nationally in both seasons, including No. 1 in pass efficiency defense for 1994. Before heading to Philadelphia, Flanders was head coach of the undefeated 1991 Dean (Mass.) Junior College team and was the linebacker and special teams coach at Lafayette from 1987 to 1990. In 1986 he was the defensive coordinator at American International College, after three seasons as linebacker and defensive back coach at SUNY-Albany, where he served as head lacrosse coach for two years. The Concord, N.H., native earned a degree in physical education from Maine and a master's in education from the University at Albany. Flanders and his wife, Wendy, live in Madison and have three children: Ashley, Lindsey and Alexander.

Joel E. Smilow '54 Defensive Coordinator
Ikaika Malloe (pronounced E-KAI-ka ma-loy), Yale's new defensive coordinator, has been a defensive assistant coach at four schools, including his last stint at Hawaii. He was special teams coordinator and handled the Warriors' defensive tackles for the 2008 season. Malloe was the defensive line coach at Texas El Paso (UTEP) from 2004-2007, special teams coordinator and defensive line coach at Western Illinois from 2001- 2003 and student assistant, graduate assistant and program coordinator at his alma mater, Washington, from 1997-2002. He graduated in 1996 and earned numerous awards as a Husky defensive back. Malloe was named the 1992 Stapp Memorial Award recipient (most inspirational on team), earned the team's hardest hitter honor for three straight years, won the 1993 Jarvis Award, was named most improved defensive back in 1994 and was named player of the week by USA Today in 1995. He and his wife, Tara, have three children: daughter, Taylor (10) and sons Jordan (9) and Isaiah (5).

Brian StarkJoel E. Smilow '54 Offensive Coordinator
Quarterbacks
Brian Stark, who spent the last nine years at San Diego State, will be coordinating the Bulldog offense and coaching the quarterbacks. Stark was the Aztecs' quarterbacks coach for four seasons, director of football operations for four and had one-year stints as passing game coordinator (2005) and tight ends coach (2008). As the QB coach from 2002-05, he helped SDSU signal-callers average nearly 3,100 yards (259 yards per game) and 18 touchdowns per season. Four SDSU players under his guidance became NFL draft picks, while his quarterback prot&eacute;g&eacute;s hold 18 SDSU and Mountain West Conference records. Before he joined the Aztecs, Stark spent a year as offensive program coordinator at Washington, where he also assisted with the Huskies' recruiting efforts. Prior to that he served as student assistant coach and assistant recruiting coordinator at his alma mater, Colorado, from 1994-99. Stark, who has worked with five bowl (Holiday twice, Fiesta, Cotton, Aloha) teams, was involved in coaching the running backs with both the Buffaloes and Huskies. After graduating from Colorado in 1997, he began his coaching career by serving as offensive coordinator at Brighton (Colo.) High School. He helped coach 12 first-team all-league and three first-team all-Colorado selections while with the Bulldogs. Stark, a Fort Morgan, Colo., native, and his wife, Sarah, have a son, Jackson.

Mike SanfordTight Ends Coach, Recruiting Coordinator
Mike Sanford, who spent the last two years as an offensive assistant for the Stanford football program, will be the Bulldogs' tight ends coach and will serve as the recruiting coordinator. Sanford worked alongside Cardinal head coach Jim Harbaugh in tutoring the Stanford signal-callers. He was instrumental in the development of Tavita Pritchard, who made his first career start against USC in 2007, a 24-23 upset for the Cardinal. Sanford is a former Boise State quarterback who played on four bowl teams during his five-year career at Boise State. With Sanford, the Broncos compiled a 54-9 record, including an 11-1 mark during his senior campaign in 2004. After his playing career, Sanford was a student assistant for the Broncos the following spring, assisting his former position coach and current head coach, Chris Petersen, with the quarterbacks. Before coaching in the Pac-10, Sanford served as an offensive graduate assistant at the University of Nevada Las Vegas (UNLV) for two seasons (2005-06). While in Las Vegas, Sanford worked with his father, Mike, the Rebels' head coach and a longtime veteran of the collegiate and professional coaching ranks. The younger Sanford worked primarily with the Rebel quarterbacks and served as the specialists coach. Sanford received his bachelor's degree in political science from Boise State in 2005. He married the former Anne-Marie Mitchell in May of 2005.

Mike PrestonOffensive Line CoachMike Preston, Yale's new offensive line mentor, comes to New Haven after a one-year stint as tight end coach at Wingate (N.C.) University. Preston was the defensive line coach at Lewis & Clark (Ore.) College in 2008, which followed two years as offensive coordinator at the University of La Verne (Calif.). He worked with the La Verne offensive line, tight ends, running backs and defensive line over that span. Preston has experience at every level of NCAA and NAIA football. His other coaching stops include Western Illinois University (2003-04, assistant defensive line coach), Ottawa (Kan.) University (2002-03, offensive line coach) and the University of Washington (1997-2000, offensive assistant and assistant offensive line coach). While at the University of Washington, where he graduated in 2005 with a B.A. degree in Sociology, Preston helped the Huskies win the 2001 Rose Bowl. He is married to the former Carrie Hawes.

Rod PlummerSpecial Teams Coordinator, Running BacksRod Plummer, the special teams coordinator and defensive backs coach for Florida A&M University in 2008, takes over special teams and the running backs for the 2009 Bulldogs. He led a Rattler special teams unit that finished No. 1 in kickoff returns (26.7) and was seventh in punt return average (15.06), while his top return man established numerous FCS records. Plummer has also been an assistant coach at Idaho (2007), Kutztown (2002, 1994-95), Wayne State (2001), Michigan State (1999-2001), Hampton (1996-1998), James Madison (1996) and Cornell (2003-06). He also has NFL experience as a minority coaching fellow with Jacksonville (2008), San Francisco (2003) and Cleveland (1992). Plummer, who graduated from Washington State in 1993, spoke about special teams at the 2008 AFCA Coaches Convention and participated in the 2005 AFCA coaching excellence clinic. The Oakland, Calif., native was inducted into the St. Mary's College High School Athletic Hall of Fame in 2002. Plummer has a son, five-year-old Alexis.

Duane BrooksDefensive LineDuane Brooks will coach his 13th season at Yale in 2008, handling the defensive linemen. His coaching has consistently produced all-league players who help anchor the defense. Over the past four years, Brooks's linemen have garnered eight All-Ivy honors, including all three starters on the 2007 squad. Brooks has also mentored four captains since coming to Yale. He came to Yale after serving as the coordinator of football operations at the University of Pennsylvania in 1996. He was the defensive end coach for Allegheny College in 1995 and had the combined role of defensive line coach and recruiting and special teams coordinator for Johnson C. Smith University in 1994. A 1987 graduate of the University of Maine, Brooks played four seasons for the Black Bears. He began his coaching career at Colby College as the defensive line mentor (1992) before going back to his alma mater in 1993 to coach the defense and serve as video coordinator. He is single and lives in New Haven.

Doug SemonesOutside LinebackersDoug Semones, who has been coaching football for 24 years, joins the Yale staff as the new outside linebackers coach. Semones, a former Arena Football League and Indoor Professional Football League assistant, comes to the Bulldogs after spending the last two years as the defensive coordinator at Sandpoint High School in Idaho. His college coaching experience came from three years (1996-98) at the University of Hawaii, where he handled the defensive line, special teams and tight ends. Semones also worked the 1994 and 1995 Hula Bowls (collegiate all-star games). He left the Rainbows to be the defensive coordinator for the IPFL Hawaii Hammerheads for a season before serving in the same role with the AFL 2 Hawaii Islanders. Semones was also the head football coach at Kahuku High School in Hawaii, where he also coached baseball, wrestling and track. He was an all-league defensive back at California Lutheran University, where he received his B.A. in 1983. He and his wife, Linda, have two children, Jake (18) and Catherine (15).

Kefense HynsonWide ReceiversKefense Hynson (pronounced ka-FIN-say hen-SON), who spent the last three years as an assistant coach at Western Washington, will mentor the Yale receivers. He was the Western Washington offensive coordinator the last two seasons; his 2008 Vikings offense averaged 404 yards of total offense and nearly 30 points a game, while his quarterbacks threw 29 touchdown passes. Hynson, who has experience working with collegiate quarterbacks, receivers, running backs and defensive backs, was an assistant at Minnesota State in 2005 and director of football operations at Boise State in 2004, the year the Broncos went 11-1, won the WAC title and were ranked in both major polls. He also had assistant jobs at Quincy (2004) and Willamette (2003) and did an NFL minority coaching fellowship with Seattle in 2008. Hynson, an honorable mention All-American defensive back at Willamette, was a three-time Northwest Conference All-Star, NWC Freshman of the Year and team captain before graduating in 2003. He is a native of Oakland, Calif.